Betrayal's Shadow (46 page)

“Turen, I need her immobile.” Grimm’s command was sharp as his fingers centered on the wound, ready to close the internal arteries the instant the blade released. But Mia still struggled.

“Briet.” Turen’s voice remained gentle. “She needs be able to see Marcus.”

Briet had turned, rocking the baby when he’d become more agitated, not realizing she blocked Mia’s view. With a murmur of apology, she moved back to the table. Leonis slid a chair beneath her so she could sit in Mia’s direct line of sight.

“Sorry,” Mia whispered, and a harsh cry escaped her lips as Ansgar executed a quick, clean pull to free the knife.

Briet bit her lower lip and touched Mia’s bloodied fingers in comfort. In spite of the pain he knew was radiating through Mia’s body, she moved one finger to cover Briet’s in response.

Grimm glanced back at Ansgar and gestured with his head. “I need this clean.”

Ansgar’s fingers drifted across Mia’s skin. Fine mists of water swept away the blood without the pressure of touch, giving Grimm a pristine medium in which suture the wound.

“This has been a disturbing day.” Leonis cleared his throat. “More so for Mia and Turen. I think we need to achieve some closure.”

“What do you propose?” The query came from Quan. Her soft words vibrated over the group in subtle comfort.

A generous gift. Turen wondered, not for the first time, how they’d managed to survive all this time without their sisters.

“We are left to reevaluate and examine our foundation, our actions, and our preconceptions. This will take leadership and—” He turned to glance at Mia, now patched, the bleeding stopped, but fragile, sheltered in Turen’s arms. “A reaffirmation of our commitments.”

Ansgar moved to stand next to his sister. White lines of stress showed along both of their faces, as it did on the many of brethren. Today had disclosed many revelations, the price paid in Mia’s blood. Relief filled Turen that no one in the chamber was comfortable with the price, the unrestricted flow of honest emotion a reassuring change.

Kaax returned to the space of the council room. “The scan’s complete. He’s definitely not in the Sanctum. Tsu and Saladin are using his DNA to filter for him at the perimeter so he can’t
fold
back. Sagari is destabilizing Salvatore’s main systems as they go. It’ll buy us time, but we will need more tiers of security.”

Turen acknowledged his words with a nod, but said nothing and rubbed his thumb across Mia’s knuckles.

Ansgar glanced at Leonis. “What do you want from us, Leo?”

“I think it is time to reaffirm our oaths.” Leonis canvassed the room and then turned back to Mia. With a quick slash, he cut a shallow strip across his palm with his sword. He squeezed his fist, allowing several drops of blood to collect in the bottom of one of the plastic water bottles from the cryo lab. “I believe it appropriate with a new member joining our
fold
that we recommit to our path, the protection of our people, our mates, and our children. We owe Mia the assurance that each of us is bound to protect her and her child, as we will any future mates and offspring. She deserves to know safety and respect as one of us. She deserves to understand the family she joins and what we are meant to be.”

Leonis met each man and woman’s gaze and held out his hand, the wound now healed in his cupped palm. “Our word is a bond of integrity and honor, a sign of our covenant to humanity and each other, our blood a promise of commitment and support.”

Confusion marred Mia’s expression, but Grimm interceded and leaned close to her ear while he secured the sling to immobilize her arm. “This is important, Mia, as much for your benefit as our own. It will help us heal.”

Turen raised her hand to his lips. She met his gaze with concern.

“Word and deed, finally a request I don’t have to choke down.” Ansgar gave Mia a quick nod. He stepped to Leonis, pulled the sword along his palm, and added his blood to Leonis’s. Mia’s gasp broke the silence in the room, but Turen pressed his lips to her temple. Each Guardian, male and female, moved forward to pledge, each adding precious drops of their blood.

Saladin, Tsu, and Sagari returned and joined the pledge. Grimm left Mia’s side and followed suit, returning to take Marcus in his arms so Briet could take the last turn.

Leo moved to Marcus. With a finger, he swiped the blood mixture of the Guardians and streaked Marcus’s collarbone. The blood disappeared into the baby’s skin.

“For the blood call?” Mia’s whisper was intelligible only to Turen, but he murmured assent against her hair.

Softly Leonis painted the same finger along Mia’s neck. “We pledge this oath for the newest of our kind that those who follow may see our future in brightness in the days to come.”

Mia glanced at Turen with tears in her eyes. He leaned down to kiss her gently on the forehead.

“You can have your life back, Turen,” Leonis said.

“I don’t want my old life back.” Turen bowed his head slightly and surveyed the room feeling the power of consensus. “No offense.”

“So now we all just get to lust after Mia like we did Maitea.” The sarcasm dripped from Ansgar’s voice, but he followed with a cocky smile toward Mia.

Leonis snorted. “We will all rein in our lust and appreciate our brother’s good fortune.”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Ansgar laughed and shrugged at the mournful roll of Briet’s eyes, meeting Turen’s gaze with a respectful tilt of his head.

Turen stroked Mia’s hand. “If you spend more time seeking your own mate, you’ll be too busy to covet mine.”

“We need to appoint a new leader,” Leonis said quietly.

“What of you, Leonis?” Grimm laughed and a few chuckles joined in. Everyone knew the elder curmudgeon’s opinion about presiding over the group, in spite of his stalwart attempt in the moment.

Leonis huffed again, louder this time. “I do not have the constitution or patience for all this drama. Other considerations?”

“Turen, you’ve gained us the most progress we’ve had since Xavier’s departure. Even under stress you are compelled to use rational methods and not—dictatorial approaches.” Saladin tried to hide a smile for his reference to Turen’s outburst against Salvatore outside the cryo lab. “A mated leader may prove to be better grounded, perhaps less distracted, than the rest of us who still have so much to work through.”

“I would second that,” said Tsu as a murmur of assent passed through the room.

A strong consensus of support, yet Turen held back a response, caution nagging at him.

“Is this too much to ask?” Briet asked, her soft compassion a stark contrast to her angry attack on Salvatore.

Turen met several expectant glances. “We need options for everyone to enter opinions and to guide, not a new rule maker. I have no interest in the position Salvatore held, or Xavier’s, for that matter. We have been here too many years and are too far from our given purpose. If we do not radically change path, it will only take us further into the abyss.”

A murmur of consensus rumbled through the room.

“Sage counsel in line with our own thinking,” said Quan.

“I need to discuss it privately with Mia. The position carries great responsibility.” It would be too massive a change to ask of her. Given the myriad issues necessary to secure the Sanctum, the head of their group would need to reside here. Mia wouldn’t have the peace and seclusion of her home.

She squeezed his hand. “I already know my thoughts. This is your people’s future, Marcus’s future, and mine. This is your dream.” Her voice was weak but certain.

“I want you to be happy.”

“Always, as long as I’m beside you.”

He searched her face, but the firm hold of her hand relayed her certainty. Her touch, like her faith in him, was unwavering. She understood commitment and sacrifices. She was his equal, his rock. He turned to the group and pulled Mia closer. “I will serve you as long as I can make a difference.”

“A vote?”

A unanimous ruling passed quickly.

Turen waited for the conversations to die down. “Once additional security has been added, we need to address the contamination of the food and water system.”

“Briet and I will screen everyone here and develop a baseline.” Grimm picked up his bag and dug in for more supplies.

“We’ll need alternate sources for the time being.” Turen passed a look to Ansgar and Kaax, who accepted the task with a nod.

“He could have infiltrated any number of areas. How safe do you think we are here?” asked Quan.

“No matter where we go, we’ll have to perform the same security and enact new procedures. Here we at least have some structure and the shield of Eden. We limit our risk to Salvatore and Xavier.”

“So we’re trapped here?” Saladin’s question was calm, but lines of disappointment aged his face.

“We can’t live in fear.” Turen shook his head. “First we secure the Sanctum. Then we implement procedures to allow our people to leave safely with a process to screen our returns to filter for the virus, outside contaminants and unwanted presence. No one should leave without accompaniment or details of where they plan to go.” Turen frowned at the crowd. “We have lives to lead, and they won’t be complete behind these walls. Careful doesn’t mean isolated.”

“We can search for our lost compatriots.” Saladin nodded, relief revealing a more youthful visage, but the comment was sobering. “They may have been out there all along, given Salvatore’s denials to the reverse.”

Turen nodded, saddened by the loss of so many years from Salvatore’s deceit and treachery. “We’d be wise to reevaluate all we were led to believe.”

Saladin lowered his gaze to Mia. “If we truly have access to the Archives, then perhaps we can make some headway. I for one appreciate the risk you both took, and your gift.”

Turen glanced down, but Mia’s eyes had finally closed. He motioned his head to Grimm, who leaned forward and pressed his fingers to her face. The pinched look around her mouth relaxed, and the muscles of her face and shoulder visibly softened.

“She should be out for ten or twelve hours,” Grimm said quietly.

“We’ll take turns and keep guard over your rooms. I’ll add another layer of security review and alerts.” Tsu turned away and
folded
from the room.

Turen took a deep breath. “Let’s get a list of all the initiatives and issues we need to review. Securing the Sanctum is the priority. We’ll meet later to prioritize and assign the most important tasks.” He glanced from the sling partially covering Mia’s wound to his son, asleep in his carrier. The confrontation had been brutal, but they’d survived, thanks to the men and women’s support in this council room.

“Tomorrow we can deal with assigning people to assess the remaining issues and break them down to those best suited for the tasks or most interested in tackling them.” He hesitated a moment. “I want—”

Saladin held up his hand for Turen to stop and shook his head.

“Did you expect less?” Quan asked gently.

Turen took a deep breath and slid an arm beneath Mia’s knees to lift her to his chest as he stood. “I always have believed in my brethren. However, these last several months have been a long, hard trial of faith.”

Briet put her arm around Quan and smiled at him. “We’re glad to have you back, Turen. Both of you.”

He nodded. No words worked through the constriction in his throat. The confidence and solidarity were all the support he needed from his people. After Mia and Marcus, that was all he really needed.

***

Tsu finished the list of areas targeted for highest priority, and Turen glanced around the table. All of the Guardians in the room seemed thoughtful, a drastic change from the apathy that had permeated Salvatore’s meetings.

Saladin was heading to locations away from the Sanctum, as were Quan, Kamau, and Kaax, all to initiate other activities. Checking in with frequency was a given for now. Only a small segment of the Guardians would ultimately stay in residence full-time. Those who found mates were encouraged to come back for protection, those with children even more so, until the time when Salvatore was found and brought back for justice.

Turen
folded
to Mia, seated on the couch in their quarters. The long glass windows framed a view of the garden’s edge. Ansgar and Briet rose from their seats and quietly left as Turen sank into the overstuffed cushions at Mia’s side. Her gaze was riveted to the sun fading over the mountains in the distance. Marcus was bundled in a carrier at her feet.

She had wanted to be with him in the meeting. Grimm had been able to convince her that she’d lost enough blood to warrant another day of recovery, if only in the interest of strengthening herself for Marcus. Turen pressed hard for her agreement even though he wanted her beside him.

He pulled her close, hesitating to break the peace of the moment by rousing Marcus for his feeding. Mia’s shoulder wasn’t strong enough yet. Grimm would allow her to lift Marcus, but Turen made sure he was back to assist, no matter what the schedule was in the council chamber.

“It’s amazing. This is something normal people will never witness.”

“The sunset or the garden?” Given that safety for the Guardians required isolation, lowering the perimeter and allowing others here wasn’t an option. He knew that wasn’t her focus. “Tsu created all the gardens before you.”